Genesis 1:1-2:4a
Psalm 8
2 Corinthians 13:11-13
Matthew 28:16-20
Jim couldn’t sleep. The last week
had been very exciting. He never thought
the day would arrive, but it finally did, and in spectacular fashion.
Yesterday Jim graduated from high school. Not only did he graduate, he did so
with high honours. Not only did he make his parents proud, but also the entire
school. When graduation awards were being handed out, he barely had a chance to
sit down, as his name kept being called again and again. Scholarship after
scholarship ensured that university would be covered—more than covered, as he
would soon be traveling to take up residence in one of the most prestigious
universities in the country.
All
of that excitement was surely keeping him up on that June night—but there was
something else, something else inside him which he couldn’t quite define.
He sat up, and as he did his head
nearly scraped the top of the one-person tent which was his overnight home.
Jim
was on a camping trip, a special overnight trip organized by his grad buddies,
buddies who liked to have a good time without doing anything really dumb—only
somewhat dumb. And we’ll leave that up to your imagination.
But
while they were having fun, Jim was having a harder time getting into it. And
now As Jim crawled out of his tent in the early hours of the morning, he had to
admit to himself that he really wasn’t into it at all. He just couldn’t shake
that feeling of restlessness which
had been dogging him for the last few days.
He
stretched in front of the flickering ambers of the campfire. Then he looked up
at the clear night, at the stars high above.
You
see Jim was a science major, physics was going to be his specialty in
university. His mission was to explore the deepest mysterious of the
universe—black holes, quarks, strings, and hopefully make a contribution to the
field of astro-physics.
But in that
moment, as he looked up, he was taken back. It wasn’t a good feeling. As he
looked up at the enormity of the solar system, for the first time, he felt his
smallness. Against all that there is, all that is out there, he felt pretty
insignificant. Not only did he feel insignificant, but also felt that all the
hard work which lay ahead of him would ultimately be done in vain.“ What
difference will my life make? “Against the vastness and enormity of the
universe, how can my life stand out?” These were the questions he asked himself
on that star-lit night.
Jim
wouldn’t be the first or certainly
the last university student to contemplate these questions. Young men and women
like Jim might think that they were the first to ask them. But they weren’t.
That
basic fundamental question, “Do I matter? How can I matter?” His been with
humanity since antiquity. This question in one form or another is the basic
question of human existence. It is the basic question which motivated Psalm 8,
which we read together a few moments ago.
Here
the Psalmist considers creation--looks out at the very same sky which sits
above our heads, and is taken aback by its enormity, and asks if the same God
who made all of that, who set the moon and the stars on their course, could
possibly care about human beings. And if God does care, how is this care
expressed?
The
answer is given by the Psalmist, and that answer is also seen in Genesis
1:26-31. First of all, God created humans, created them to be different and
elevated above other creatures, in the image of the creator. But, at the same
time, not to be divine. God would not have created humans had He not cared
about them. But God also created humans with intention. God created humans to
fill a specific duty, a vocational office, and the work of that office is described both in
Genesis and in the psalm—and that office is to exercise dominion over creation.
This does not mean to dominate and exploit creation, but to be good stewards—to
tend God’s earthly garden.
Humans
were created with this special role in mind because God never intended that
creation be static. God created a dynamic universe. God created the universe
with the intention of being in deep relationship to it. The Biblical God is a
relational God. This spiritual reality contrasts sharply with the god of deism,
first proposed back in the eighteenth century. Deism says that God more or less
got everything going and then stood back and watched creation unfold like a
giant clockmaker looking at his clock.
But the god of eighteenth century deism is not the God revealed to us in the pages of Holy
Scripture., who is dynamically engaged with creation in relationship, and
especially with humanity
So
the answer to the question: Do I matter?
Is an unequivocal “yes”. You along with all humans were created to matter, to
make a positive and life giving difference in the world.
God
created humans to be in perfect relationship with himself, with each other, and
with the rest of creation. The God of the Bible is a relational God. Today is
Holy Trinity Sunday, in which we celebrate the God of relationship. The Holy
Trinity is doctrine which
celebrates God’s relationship with God.
The trinity is indeed a
difficult and mysterious idea: God existing as three persons, Father Son, and
Holy Spirit, yet at the same time being one God. That’s hard to wrap our heads
around. But one truth about the Trinity which we can know, is that God’s three persons exist in a dynamic,
ongoing, and perfect relationship of creation, redemption, and
sanctification. It is a
relationship of love.
And it was in the same spirit that God
crated human beings to be in perfect relationship with them. But you don’t have
to be a Christian to know that this perfect relationship does not exist.
Something has intruded, something has thrown off the balance, and marred God’s
good creation. That something is sin. The power of sin and death has marred our
relationship with God and with each other.
Wednesday
evening, following the loss of the Stanley Cup, the people of this city and
around the world, in fact, got a first hand view of the power of sin at work.
Vandals tore apart stores and lit
cars aflame. Bystanders were swarmed and assaulted, as vulgarians delighted in
the chaos, and proceeded to brag about about their dastardly deeds on social
networks.
The
power of sin at work was very obvious in that crowd, whose attitude was one of
absolute defiance.
It is quite easy to see
that rebellious attitude in the lawless mob—much harder on an everyday basis, much harder in the subtle idolatry which
pervades the culture. In Rogers
Arena a banner hangs with the words, “ this is what we live for.” Sadly, for too many people, that is
literally true. Hockey teams, players, celebrities are put on a pedestal and
worshipped. The Stanley Cup is revered as “hockey’s holy grail.” The other day, Bobby Orr was referred to
by a commentator as “the Messiah”.
While the world might delight in that kind of nonsense, Christians have
no business being a part of it.
But temptation is powerful.
The power
of sin is indeed pervasive It has distorted
humanity’s perspective on life, even on our beloved game of hockey. The power
of sin has given arise to the
illusion that God is distant and cold. It has given rise to the lie that human
beings are nothing more than apes whose only purpose is to consume, reproduce, and then simply die. At the
other end of the spectrum it has also given rise to the lie that humans are
gods, capable of anything and everything, perhaps even immortality. And a basic, fundamental, spiritual truth is that humans are
utterly incapable of working themselves out of the mess of sin. Humans will
never by their own power escape the power of death.
There
was and is only one way: it is through the Grace of God. God the Father gave
his only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, so that all may have the gift of eternal
life, so that the relationship between God and humanity could be restored to
its original intention. Belief and
Trust in this comes to us by way of the Holy Spirit. We see then that the
blessed work of the Holy trinity is to draw humanity back into relationship
with God, so that we too become part of God’s ongoing relationship of love.
It
is only through the work of the triune God that humans have been born
anew—heave been recreated. By God’s Grace humans have been born again. But doubt remains a human reality.
People continue to doubt, even those who confess Christ as Lord. There is
intellectual doubt. But more significantly perhaps is the kind of doubt which
moved in the heart of the young man I described a few minutes ago. This doubt
is a doubting of place and vocation. Do I
have a place? What is my purpose? What should I do? We read that doubt
moved in the hearts of the disciples even as they encountered the resurrected
and living Christ. We might think that they doubted they were seeing Jesus. But
perhaps there doubt concerned what to do, in what direction to move. So Jesus
gives them clear instruction—humanity’s new vocation in the New creation, which
is to make disciples, baptize, and instruct in the ways of Christ.
For
those who have been restored and drawn into the ongojng an dynamic relationship
of the Trinity the vocational mandate is to draw others in, so that others
would be part of this ongoing, dynamic relationship of love.
I
wouldn’t be going out on a limb by saying that a fundamental truth of the human
condition is a need to belong, to be part of something bigger than ourselves.
That hunger lives in each and every human being—it as a hunger to live in
relationship with God.
The other
evening, this city burned, and people were rightfully appalled at the behaviour
which had once again brought disgrace upon Vancouver. At a spiritual level what
we see is a perverse expression of the desire to belong and be part of
something—even a violent mob.
There
is such a great need—the great need that the Truth of God’s word be spread near
and far. Hearts need to be penetrated by God’s Holy Law, and transformed by the Good News of the
Gospel. This is what we have been given new life for. This is what the triune
God has called us to do. It is what Christ has commanded us to do. And we can
do it with confidence because Christ has promised to be with us, in
relationship to us, even until the end of the age. Now, may the peace which
surpasses all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
